Seraphina’s Sponsored Walk for the Abaseen Foundation
21st Oct 2023
Seraphina is 10 years old. She has just completed a 12 mile walk on behalf of the Abaseen Foundation. She supports Abaseen because it raises money to help educate children in remote areas of Pakistan. They have funded a model school and raised money to pay for lunch for the children.
Seraphina decided to do the walk to commemorate Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917), the first woman to qualify as a doctor in the UK. She wasn’t actually the first female doctor. Around 50 years earlier a woman, Margaret Anne Bulkley (1789-1865), became a doctor but she disguised herself as a man and qualified as a doctor under the name James Barry. No one discovered she was a woman until after her death!
Elizabeth was the first woman to qualify as a doctor and be recognised as such. At the time women’s roles in society was limited by the traditional views of the day. The walk charts her amazing journey and the challenges that she faced.
The route of the walk takes us through the major milestones and events in Elizabeth’s life. There are photos of Seraphina on her route. Although it started with good weather by the end we were very wet!
